Novella of Nakari Chapter 5: In the Out Field and in My Heart By: Monica Vix There was a low groan in bed as a brown rabbit was struggling to wake up. There was a lack of a familiar warmth in her arms, the shark she snuggled into bed with gone. Monica didn’t panic at all. Her long floppy ears, half laying off the edge of the bed, were able to hear the hustle and bustle in the kitchen. Nakari got up before her and had time to put her prosthetics back on before her partner could even fully wake up! It was no issue to the bunny, though. Monica knew that the moment she dragged herself out of bed, lazily pulled some clothes on, and walked out to the kitchen, there would be a nice meal waiting for her. The clanking of plastic on wood, on metal, on other plastics. That’s all that filled the air. Monica would eventually drag her naked body out of bed, huffing as she took two steps across the cold floor. Her white furred paws would slowly shuffle to the closet, dragging out a black sports bra and white panties to just appear a little more decent. Even if she’d prefer to be naked, the rabbit wasn’t fully sure if Nakari would be comfortable seeing a naked rabbit first thing in the morning, even if they did sleep together with nothing but covers between them. Monica shuffled out of the bedroom, past the pepper covered sheets of what would be her bed. The brown rabbit poked her head around the corner to see Nakari standing in front of the oven, almost dancing as she was cooking. The smell of breakfast would be wonderful, if the rabbit could smell. The shark was completely obvious to her girlfriend waking and deciding to show up for the day. She was completely in the zone. Cooking, humming, even looking over her phone to see if any messages popped up. There was no way that Monica could distract her from the cooking. Pancakes were flopped onto a pair of plates straight from a hot skillet, the perfectly golden stacks of goodness steaming on their ceramic pedestals. Music poured from her phone, making the kitchen just a little more lively as the soundtrack of a game hummed and twinkled in the air. With two steps forward into the kitchen, Monica realized she still wasn’t noticed. She gazed at the shark, a little more than mystified at her nakedness. Another few steps and she was right behind the shorter shark. Emerald eyes gazed over her shoulders, watching her prosthetics to make sure there was nothing dangerous in her hands. Then, the soft white furred paws of her own hands slipped around Nakari, ensnaring the blue shark with her warm embrace. Hand gently slid across the firm, toned stomach of the shark, holding her around the waist. “Ah!” Nakari called out in surprise. She would’ve jumped, but there was no way to gain upward momentum with the arms of a rabbit restraining her. “H-hi, yes, good morning!” She stammered in a loud voice. Startled, the shark huffed and melted back into the rabbit, feeling her plush fur and soft underwear pressing against her back. Monica snickered lowly. Her muzzle was pressed into the ear fin of the shark, kissing in one of the most sensitive, nonsexual parts of her body. “Good morning. Didn’t think you’d stay naked, honestly.” She said dryly. Her hands lovingly embraced the shark all the same, not caring if there were clothes or not. “Why the change? Just didn’t feel like wearing a bra before your game?” “O-oh, uh… I thought you’d… like to be naked, too?” Nakari said with a slight smile on her lips. She blushed and looked away, keeping her gaze fixated on the meal before her. “You can eat without me, if you don’t want to wait. I need to get my morning shower in and get dressed.” The shark spoke softly, her voice fragile as if she could crack like glass at any moment. The rabbit chuckled again. “Come on, you don’t smell that bad.” She spoke in an over the top, joking tone. “Thanks, I’ll wait though. How long until your game?” Monica broke the embrace while slipping around the shark. The taller bunny placed her butt on the counter, scooting the plates aside to make room for herself while watching Nakari. “It’s in two hours and fifteen minutes!” The shark spoke cheerily. “We have the second game of the day, if the first group doesn’t go into overtime.” Her eager tone wasn’t unnoticed by Monica, who just simply smiled down at her. “Just want to get ready early so I can catch that, and so I can get some time to meet your brother before going on the field.” She elaborated on her plans without prompting. Monica shook her head slowly. “I can tell you’re excited. Didn’t even sound like you took a breath there.” The lapine said with a sultry, teasing tone. One of her long floppy ears was lifted by her hand, a sly wink highlighting the motion. “Remember to breathe, please. Just because I can carry you there doesn’t mean I want to.” The rabbit joked. Scoffing and sputtering for a moment, the blushing shark retreated. Her tail waved through the air with sass as plastic prosthetic feet carried her across the tile floor of the kitchen and dinning room, growing more muffled as she stepped onto the soft carpet of the living room. Nakari escaped her relentlessly teasing girlfriend just for a minute as she disappeared into the bathroom. Her already naked body was slipped under the faucet of the shower, plastic fingers entangling themselves with the shower control knob just to give it a little twist. Cool droplets of water danced on her blue scales before the torrent of the chilling shower kissed her body. It was one of the most relaxing sensations to her, being immersed in nothing but the chilling caress of a cold shower. She could feel her mind focusing, anticipating the day ahead. Nakari cleaned her body and made little display of how her mind flexed, readying itself for a pair of challenges: a new, important person in her life and the most important game she’s been apart of for years on end. It took only ten minutes for the shark to emerge from the bathroom, clad in a pink graphic tee of a grey bear and a black skirt. A towel was running over her dark brown hair, disrupting and shifting the pink hair stripe around again and again as she dried off. Nakari approached the dining room just to see Monica sitting at the table, both plates of pancakes before her. “Hey,” Nakari spoke to get the bun’s attention, “How do I look?” She asked. Holding the towel aside, the shark twisted around to make the skirt twirl in a smooth, flowing motion. Monica looked over, eyes scanning over the shark’s body. “You look nice. Didn’t want to wear pants, I assume?” She said with a deadpan tone of voice. Without looking away from the shark, she began to slather her own pancakes with syrup. “How much syrup do you want on your pancakes?” She asked without skipping a beat. “K-kinda?” Nakari answered with a tilt of her head. The shark sat down across from the rabbit who still wore her underwear and nothing else. “I just wanted to wear a skirt and look, you know… more feminine. Trying a little harder to pass, especially since I’m meeting your brother. Oh, and just hand it to me when you’re done, please.” Her voice was soft and polite, both of her prosthetic hands placed on her thighs. “Oh, yea, don’t worry about that. I’ve told him about you and shot over that pic of us at that game store we went to last month.” She said nonchalantly. “All he knows is that you’re a girl and you’re cute. And, well, that you do baseball and are my girlfriend, but those things aren’t as important as you being adorable.” Monica didn’t let up with the teasing! There was something about her deadpan, toneless voice that only amplified the compliments. Her white furred hand passed over the syrup bottle. “Also, how is it you’re the one who had a nightmare and I’m the one who’s more tired?” She joked with a frustrated sigh. Nakari blushed at the comments and let out a soft giggle. Her prosthetics gently took the syrup and lifted it, letting the thin stream of brown, sugary syrup drizzle over top her pancakes. “Thank you.” She said in barely a whisper. “O-oh, uh, yea. Sometimes our bodies are just mean like that. I’m a morning person anyways.” Nakari replied to the rabbit’s frustration. The two girls began to eat their meals together, being equally voracious with their breakfast. Monica was the first to finish, almost making a show about it by how quickly she stood up and picked up her dirty plate. Nakari would finish just a few moments after her girlfriend, standing up and following behind the rabbit. As the plates were dropped in the sink, Monica stepped back and headed back for their room, her brisk pace making her ears lag behind and float in the air a little. After a quick minute in the bedroom, she then darted over to the bathroom, carrying a set of clothes and pepper covered sheets in her arms. With the dishes washed and Nakari now lazing on the couch in waiting, Monica reappeared from the bathroom. She wore a pair of slim fitting leggings covered by jean shorts, a black shirt on over top with a faded yellow jacket loosely hanging around her shoulders. A purse was slung over her shoulder, her white furred hand dropping her phone into it. Her long legs carried her over to the shark, reaching towards Nakari to grab her phone out of the white plastic hands. “Think we should get going? I can start the laundry when we get back.” Monica spoke simply. “It’s mostly my stuff anyways.” Her white furred hand slipped the shark’s device back into the prosthetic hands. The soft paw rolled over the shark’s shoulders, giving Nakari a reassuring shoulder rub. Tugging her arms away and grasping on tighter to her phone, Nakari nodded. “Sure. Did you comb your hair?” She asked. With the slight groan of the taller rabbit rolling in her ear, the shark couldn’t help but to smile. It was a wonder this rabbit could take care of herself, let alone of Nakari, too! “I’ll be a minute.” Monica groaned. She leaned in just to steal a kiss on Nakari’s cheek before running off again. Once the rabbit brushed her hair, she met up with the shark at the front door of their apartment, ready to disembark. One pair of prosthetic legs stepped out, a second set of organic legs following suit. Monica and Nakari walked side by side, practically shoulder by shoulder. Down the stairs, out the door, along the concrete walk way. The shark led just a little, just by the nose as the two went down to the baseball field. It was a nice day, the soft late autumn chill in the air flowing around the pair. To Monica, it was just a cold day. To Nakari, it was clearly something much more important. The way her indigo eyes were lit up, her breathing getting deeper as she smelled the crisp, cooling air. It was a sign that today would be a good day. Not a thing could shake her mood. Monica slipped her arm between the prosthetic and scarred stump of the distracted shark. With a slight tug, she moved Nakari out of the way of a passerby and over just a few steps. “I know this is more of a High School Musical thing, but you gotta get your head in the game. How are you gonna catch a fastball if you’re not watching where you’re going?” She joked a little. “Or pitch. My bad, got your position confused for… literally the opposite thing.” The rabbit snickered quietly. “Anyways, my brother’s over here. Think he just pulled up. Just let me know if he says something stupid and you want me to smack him.” Monica joked with a dry tone of voice. “O-oh, thank you. And yea, I’m a pitcher when we play the outfield.” The shark said with a slight smile. She nestled up to the rabbit, encouraging Monica to put her arm around her shoulders. “Wait, is he, like… an asshole or intolerant or anything? And why can’t I just slap him myself?” Nakari’s prosthetic arm wrapped around the bunny’s midsection, resting on her hip. “He’s just kind of a dick sometimes. Especially in height, since you’re taller than him.” Monica said bluntly. Her arm squeezed around the smaller shark’s shoulders, squishing them into her body a little. “And, well, I’m not the one with plastic hands powered by motors. Don’t want to hurt him that much.” She snickered. “Oh, there he is, right there.” Her attention was divided as she saw her brother. Wyatt, a short roughly five foot tall rabbit boy, was starting to approach them. He seemed all business from the tension in his body, his outfit containing a white button up shirt and navy blue slacks. The bits of fur that were visible seemed a lot like Monica’s brown and white coloration, the piercing eyes the same exact hue of violent emerald. Wyatt continued to approach, his steely gaze locked onto the two girls before him, a faint smile on his white furred lips as he got closer and closer. Monica gave him the same intense look back. In the middle of this silent sibling rivalry, Nakari stood. She swallowed instinctively upon seeing the way the two rabbits looked at each other. Indigo eyes flipped between each of the bunnies in turn, slowly moving away from Monica to give the two some space. “Nice to see you again.” Wyatt spoke. His voice was deeper than would be expected for his short stature. “And nice to meet you, miss.” He held his hand out to Nakari, a mottled white patches of fur over his hand.”Hope you’ve been keeping my little sister out of trouble?” His voice had that same joking, deadpan tone that Monica had, the sly smile along his lips implying it was more of a joke than it sounded like. “H-hi, nice to meet you! I’m Nakari, Monica’s, uh…” She hesitated for a moment. The shark felt blush swelling in her cheeks as she was on the verge of proclaiming their relationship to someone else for the first time. “I-I’m her girlfriend.” Nakari’s maw tilted into a wide, stupid grin. “She’s, uh… been out of trouble, yea.” The arm of the taller bunny sibling was slipped over the shoulders of the shark once again, the pastel yellow cloth of her jacket sleeve drawing the smaller shark in close. “Yep, and she’s going to be playing in the next game. Just waiting awhile for the game to start.” Wyatt nodded his head slowly. “Sounds good. Should we grab some food before the game starts?” “Sure, maybe a snack or two. We just ate breakfast about an hour ago.” Monica said. A sly smile formed at the edges of her mouth. “I don’t think I’m short on money this time, so I can cover it.” There was a forced height joke that her brother clearly noticed. Nakari snickered a little and nudged Monica in the ribs. With a short glance between the two of them, the shark scolded the taller rabbit about bullying her shorter, older brother. That was until Wyatt laughed a little. With the joke in the air and the tension dissipated with a shared laugh, the trio would walk into the baseball field. They stood with Nakari in the middle, Monica and Wyatt flanking her on either side. It wasn’t lost on any of them how they were arranged by height by accident. The modest stadium itself was somewhat full, roughly half of the seats filled with people. Most were watching the game and eating food at the same time, a few small groups recording and cheering. Within the field itself, the game was winding to an end, a close match between the two teams. One arctic fox standing at the plate smacked the ball hard enough to send it flying into the net at the back of the field, preventing it from going into the street. There was a cheer that flowed through the awake three fourths of the audience! Players ran around the field in a frenzy as the last few points were scored, the batting team winning by only two points. It was a typical scene you would see in any sports movie from the late nineties! Nakari was clearly the most enthralled with this, lagging behind just a little. She didn’t even notice Monica was walking still, the pair of bunnies pausing for her to come back to earth. It took a few moments before the somewhat bashful shark caught up, squeezing her arm around the taller bunny sibling. “Sorry, I just really wanted to see that. I’ve seen Albs around a few times at practice, the guy who just scored the home run.” Nakari was excited, almost bouncing against Monica’s side. Wyatt looked at the pair, but the indigo eyes of the shark didn’t bother to even have him in her periphery. Clearing his throat, Wyatt stole the shark’s attention. “Do you need to get going to prepare for your turn on the field? Maybe we have time to grab a few churros? Or is that too much of a tall order for our time constraints?” He had a sly joke in his words as well, getting a brow furrowing from his younger sister. “Oh, yep! We got about twenty minutes, I think. Could’ve sworn the game would’ve taken longer….” She eyed the field, staring down at the players shaking and congratulating each other on a good game. “I’m going to get changed, though. Need to get ready. Please promise you won’t bite each other’s throats out while I’m not here?” Nakari spoke with a soft, pleading voice. Her gaze fell back on the pair of bunnies, watching the two cast a glance between each other. Monica grit her teeth and crossed her arms over her chest. “No promises, but I’ll try not to start anything.” She groaned like a bratty child. “I’ll grab you a few churros, though, don’t worry. We’ll be around the front row, maybe one or two up.” “Take your time, we’ll wait for you before we dig in.” Wyatt continued without skipping a beat, adding more to what his sister said. With a brief nod and a slightly unsure smile, Nakari dipped away from between the two brown bunnies. The shark twirled on her heel, durable plastic scraping against the floor of the stadium before she walked away, darting off to the locker room. There was a noticeable pep in her step. The black skirt bounced a little, her pace growing just a little quicker than usual. Now that she was here, able to experience the energy the stadium had when it was alive, Nakari was more than eager to get things done! Even if it meant changing into her baseball uniform before her and her team went out onto the field. Disappearing into the cover of the locker room, Nakari undressed herself alongside other women about to play. There was a slight disconcerting feeling of being stared at for one of two reasons. White plastic fingers pulled off her pink top and slipped the black skirt off of her legs, revealing a dull grey sports bra and pure black compression shorts. Her shirt and skirt were tucked away into her locker, the white striped uniform getting tugged out in return. Then, without much fanfare, the shark slipped on the button up jersey, getting it fitting nice and snug over her relatively flat front. As she sat down to pull on the pants to go with her uniform, Nakari’s eyes focused on a salamander girl approaching her. Blushing for a moment as she felt exposed, the shark sat up right and fixed her posture before talking. “H-hi, nice to meet you.” Her indigo eyes spied the fresh looking uniform. “Oh, we’re going to play together! Nice!” Nakari smiled, forcing enthusiasm with the stranger. “Hey there, yea. Go Hell Horns, and all that.” The red salamander did a halfhearted cheer, chuckling a little to herself. “I was wondering, what do you have on your arms there? Looks a little too… 3D to be some sleeve design. Oh, I’m Emma, by the way.” Her hand was extended to the shark, a flame tattoo in black ink over her red scales. Nakari’s face soured a little. With an uncomfortable smile, she reached out and shook hands with the salamander. “I’m Nakari. I, uh… well… these aren’t sleeves? These are prosthetics so I can, well… do things!” She retracted her hand, turning it over to show the underside of her forearm. The segments of white plastic were visible, the slender and geometrical figure of the prosthetic on full display. “I had a few accidents and, well… I got these maybe… last year?” Her arm turned, showing off a bit of exposed scar tissue at the base of her stump. “Oh!” Emma was clearly taken aback by this. She laughed uncomfortably at this, especially since she didn’t even realize the importance of the prosthetics. “Well, uh, they look cool! I was going to ask where I could find some, but, uh… not really something I can get.” The salamander planted herself next to Nakari. “Do they, like, help with anything? Like help you bat or pitch harder or things like that?” The shark shook her head. Her plastic digits began to pull up her pants, covering the grey compression shorts she wore. “No. Not in the slightest.” She spoke somewhat dryly. “Had to fight a little to get in this tournament to begin with. First they thought it was some advantage, then a disadvantage, but they caved in.” Nakari’s voice was a little defeated in tone. With a sharp breath of air, the shark forced herself to her feet. “But that doesn’t really matter now, I guess. Just want to get out there and play some, you know?” She chuckled lightly. With a little tug, her pants were wiggled fully in place, her large tail hanging out the back. Nodding slowly with understanding, the salamander also stood. “I get that, yea. Hope we have a good game!” Emma stammered for a moment, clearly feeling a little awkward and uncomfortable. “Sorry if that was rude, just never seen anything like your arms before.” She spoke cautiously, as if she could offend Nakari worse with a single misspoken phrase. “It’s okay. It happens sometimes.” Nakari shrugged. “I’ll see you on the field!” She called out, taking a few steps away from Emma with a wave of her hand. “Good luck and good game!” With that, the shark made a quick escape to get some snacks with her girlfriend and her brother. There was a little awkward shuffling as she retreated from Emma and the locker room, making her way back up to the stands of the stadium to meet up with the two bunnies. She made the short trek to the stands, seeing the pair sitting around the front, a seat of space between them. Monica and Wyatt seemed to be deep in conversation just at a glance, seeing both of them moving their arms and hands as if they were chatting. “Hey, sorry, I’m back! Got stopped by one of the other team’s players.” Nakari called out to her partner and sibling-in-partner-law. “Oh, thank you!” She beamed and Monica handed her a churro. The brown bun girl smiled and patted the seat next to her. “Don’t mention it. And take a seat while you can, looks like you’re going on soon.” Monica shifted over just a little to let the shark sit next to her. “I’m not the biggest baseball fan.” Wyatt said between bites of his churro. “So… who’s batting first? How do you choose? I assume for professional, national scale it’s a home team advantage, but what about something local like this little tournament?” Nakari started to bite into her churro, speaking with a mouth partially full of the sweet treat. “Here, it’s a coin toss.” With a brief stint of chewing, the shark swallowed. “I think my team, the Candid Chaparrals, are tails and the Hell’s Horns are heads. Only because they got alliteration.” She continued to eat her snack, reclining into the chair next to her girlfriend. “And you prefer pitching, right?” Wyatt asked. “What about it is more fun that swinging?” Nakari responded with a simple nod. Before she could even get a word out, there was a sharp buzz in the air, the intercom relayed a simple message, calling for all of the players for the next game to go to their respective meeting rooms. The shark sighed softly as she stood, slipping out from under Monica’s arm. “I’ll see you guys later! Gotta meet up with my team.” Nakari spoke with a mixture of disappointment and anticipation. “It was great to meet you, Wyatt!” She leaned over with her prosthetic arm reached out to the smaller of the two rabbits. Wyatt shook Nakari’s hand with a soft smile. As the shark walked away to the stairs and disappeared down the stairway, the shorter bunny leaned back in his seat. A sigh rolled off his white furred lips. “So, Monica, how’d you even meet her?” He asked in a low tone that bordered on judgmental. “Her dad’s place. He runs a sushi place here, less than a ten minute walk form our place.” Monica spoke with a monotone voice, matching her brother’s. “Tried it once and she waited on me. I saw her prosthetics and thought they were really cool, so we started talking. Well…” She chuckled lowly, her voice rising in tone. “We talked until I gagged and got close to puking. Apparently I still don’t like seafood of any kind. Still paid full price out of just… basic decency, and she took the rest of the clean food with her as a tip.” The smaller rabbit chuckled. “Well, yea, I’m not surprised after the fish stick incident in high school.” He spoke as if he was joking. “You could’ve just spit it out, but no, you tried to wash it down with milk.” Wyatt shuddered at the thought. “Fuck… why did you remind me?” Monica groaned in pain at the memory. “And if you tell Nakari that I’m going to kick your ass.” “And ruin what you have with her?” Wyatt countered the threat with a simple question. “She’s good for you. Not really keen on ruining that.” His voice was low and approving. Even as he spoke vague words of approval, the brown bunny crossed his mottled arms. “I can see how much you care for her in just half an hour. And, well, see it the other way around just as much. I don’t think her opinion about you would change, even if I told her that.” Monica was at a loss for words. Her emerald eyes gazed down to the field to see the two teams starting to march out in two rows. Not a word came out of her mouth as she watched eagerly, eyes trained on the line of white uniforms. The lapine stared. She looked for the familiar shark among the other players. Emerald eyes lit up like Christmas lights as she saw Nakari near the back of the group. “Mhm.” Wyatt idly teased. He drew out his phone, starting to idly type on it. “That’s what I thought. Knew you were more than simply in love.” He spoke with a clean, even tone, as if he predicted this. “You’re enthralled.” “Shh.” Monica shushed him without another thought. Her eyes were transfixed on the two captains of the team, flipping a coin with the referee between them. “They’re choosing who does what. What positions.” She corrected herself. With the flip of a coin and the teams looking at the results, it was decided. The white jerseys of the Candid Chaparrals moved to the outfield, the dull blue jersey’s of the Hell’s Horns moving to the side lines to bat. Nakari took center stage right off the bat. The shark stood on the pitcher’s mound, staring forward at the first batter going up to the plate. There was a sharp beep over the intercom system, making it known to everyone that the game was afoot! Monica drew out a camera from her purse, a professional looking device with a lens longer than usual. Uncapping the front of it and focusing it on the shark, the rabbit took a few pictures of her girlfriend doing what she did best in the heat of the game. Her slender physique in motion was captured as the first ball of the game was pitched. A three round burst of high quality photos were taken of her body, sleek and powerful as her mechanical digits forced the ball out of her palm with blinding speed. The crack of the bat striking against the ball was like a firework. The shooting star of a ball flew over head, signaling the true beginning of an erratic game.